Beyond Siri: Here are the practical AI features coming to your iPhone in iOS 27

Siri’s AI overhaul may have been the headline announcement at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month, but Apple’s broader AI strategy is taking shape through a series of smaller features embedded in the software.

Instead of asking consumers to adopt the new AI-powered version of Siri to reap all the benefits AI brings, the company is weaving AI into the apps and services people already use, with a focus on solving real-world problems. The result, among other things, is that your iPhone can split restaurant bills among friends, protect your passwords after data breaches, automate tasks, and organize information with less manual effort.

On their own, these features may not be as dramatic as a Siri that finally understands your personal context and can take action on your behalf. But together they demonstrate a vision of AI that is less about chatting with a bot and more about making Apple’s own software smarter and more capable.

Past Siri AIhere are the smaller AI features in iOS 27 that we’re most looking forward to using. The features are now live in developer beta and will soon appear in public beta ahead of the general public release of iOS 27 later this fall.

Splitting bills

When iOS 27 rolls out later this fall, customers will be able to share their restaurant bill with Apple Cash. Powered by Apple Intelligence, simply take a photo of the receipt (or upload a photo) and then see a new option that lets you choose to share the bill with others. Apple Intelligence tries to extract the most important details from the bill, such as the items ordered and the quantities, the tip and the total. You can choose the items you ordered from the receipt and then share a request for others to do the same by sending a message to the group chat. Others can select their items and quantities – even select half (1/2) if sharing with another. To pay, double-click as with any other Apple Cash transaction.

The bill splitting option doesn’t feel complicated, as it only appears when needed and works with existing apps and services people already know, like Messages and Apple Cash. It’s also smart enough to ask for everyone’s share of the tax and tip, along with item prices.

Update password

Thanks to password managers like Apple’s Passwords app or others from third parties like 1Password, Dashlane, or Bitwarden, you’ve probably now created complex passwords that aren’t easy to guess. Unfortunately, that is no longer enough to keep passwords secure. As countless data breaches have shown us over the years, your passwords often still end up in the hands of bad actors through no fault of your own.

Apple’s new password update feature will now use AI to take action on behalf of users by identifying both weak and compromised passwords, such as those found in a data breach. Instead of forcing you to manually update your passwords, the feature securely navigates websites, logs you in, and upgrades your passwords to new, more secure versions.

One-tap suggestions in Messages

If you thought the position was displayed automatically the SMS passcode you need to log into a website, right above the keyboard, is one of the best things Apple has ever introduced; You’ll love the new one-tap suggestions in iOS 27.

Using Apple Intelligence, the Messages app offers a variety of one-tap suggestions based on the topics of users’ conversations. For example, if a friend texts you to ask you to bring something when you meet, the one-tap suggestion can ask if you want to add the request to your reminders. If someone asks you to share the photos from an event, Apple Intelligence can suggest the right photos to send based on knowledge of keywords, locations, and the people in their photo library. If you’re planning a dinner or work meeting, Messages may ask you to add the event to your calendar. And so on.

Again, the feature itself just seems like a useful tool in your chat, not an obvious AI-powered addition.

Evoking context

Another under-the-radar option in iOS 27 makes phone calls with company customer service a little less stressful by surfacing necessary information you might need to provide to the company representative who answers. For example, if you call about your airline reservation, the Call Context feature displays your confirmation code directly on the calling screen.

To work, the feature uses Apple Intelligence to pull the information from your email into Mail, which runs entirely on the device for privacy. Moreover, it is a tool that simply works in the background; you don’t have to talk to an AI assistant to find out the information; the necessary details simply appear.

Add calendar events

Replicating a feature that third-party apps like Fantasical have had for years, Apple now also lets you add or change Calendar events by describing them in natural language. Under the hood, Apple Intelligence extracts the contacts and locations and creates an event title on your behalf. This feature makes it easier to add things to your Apple Calendar without having to think about which field to enter information.

Vibe Coding Shortcuts

One of the more powerful apps on the iPhone, Shortcuts, has remained out of reach for many users due to the technical overhead associated with it. The app lets you script tasks and workflows and create automations that make your life easier. But using Shortcuts can be a frustrating experience for non-expert users, who would have to look to online tutorials or other resources, such as Shortcut galleries, to find the tools they need.

In iOS 27 you can simply describe what you want your iPhone to do. Apple suggests you can configure your alarm each night based on the events you have on your calendar the next day, or have your favorite productivity apps open a certain way every time you connect your Magic Keyboard to an iPad. But you don’t even have to get that nerdy: Shortcuts can also perform other everyday tasks, like automatically texting your partner with your estimated time of arrival when you leave work, or turning on the porch lights when your DoorDash order arrives.

Less spam in the Home app

Smart home users know that their apps can often bombard them with a slew of unimportant notifications that are all actually a single event. For example, if your partner comes home, opens the smart garage door, checks the mail, and then enters the house, you may receive one notification per action, which starts to feel like spam. With Apple Intelligence in iOS 27, the Home app can understand the different actions and how they are connected, so that a single notification is sent that relates to the overall activity: that someone has arrived home and closed the garage door.

The AI ​​can also help you find clips you need through the search function, such as a package delivery or other event. And the Home app will have notable clips at the top of the screen for you to watch.

Organized tabs in Safari

Another less obvious AI feature is the tab organizer in the Safari web browser. Using Apple Intelligence, Safari can now understand what you view on websites and then organize your tabs into relevant topics. For example, if you have multiple tabs open related to a trip you’re planning, Safari can add them all to a travel tab group. These appear at the top of the browser, above the web page, so you can easily access them when you’re ready to return to your web research.

Apple notes that the AI ​​that does this work for you also respects user privacy, because your browsing data isn’t passed on to anyone, not even Apple.